1/2" or 1/4" MOA?

jstahl

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Dec 16, 2012
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Hey guys, I've been looking at the vortex hs long range scope. The thing that has me worried is the 1/2" moa. What do you guys think about 1/2" over 1/4". This will be on a 300 mag hunting rifle only. Thanks for any info!
 
You could do 1/2 moa clicks for long range hutning. 1/4 MOA is more popular and the math isn't that hard. I learned with 1/4 MOA and that is what makes sense to me. If you are chasing small targets the 1/4 MOA is a much finer adjustment that makes precision a little easier. There aren't that many scopes in 1/2 moa adjustments.
 
For a hunting long range carry setup I think the HS Long range with the capped windage knob and 1/2 MOA elevation turret is perfect. I am looking for another scope and the HS I just mentioned is on the short list. For the dollar spent it's hard to beat. With the Dead Hold Reticle you would have hash marks at 2 MOA for wind hold off. Beyond 800 yards and a small target the 1/2 MOA adjustment might be a little coarse.
 
Thats the thing that worries me. That scope it the exact one im looking at. The 1/2" just seems like alot when you get out past 500yd or so.
 
How far realistically are you going to shoot?

The only drawback to 1/2 moa vs 1/4 moa is whether or not you will have fine enough adjustments to keep your POI close enough to POA. For most loads this isn't an issue out to 1/2 mile or so.

I would suggest using a ballistic calculator like the one here at LRH if you don't have one personally and do the comparisons yourself and see the difference.

Scot E.
 
Thats the thing that worries me. That scope it the exact one im looking at. The 1/2" just seems like alot when you get out past 500yd or so.

Let's say at 500 yards the come up is 9.75 and with a 1/4 MOA scope you dial that. With a 1/2 MOA scope you dial 9.5 or 10 so you are off 1/4MOA which at 500 yards is about 1 1/4 inch and at 800 its about 2 inches. Any of that gets you into a 10 inch kill zone deer or elk and would take a coyote out. Might have a little trouble taking out a rock chuck though.

So for a large game "hunting" rifle 1/2 MOA is OK if shooting a accurate rifle but does have its limit.
 
Hey guys, I've been looking at the vortex hs long range scope. The thing that has me worried is the 1/2" moa. What do you guys think about 1/2" over 1/4". This will be on a 300 mag hunting rifle only. Thanks for any info!

Think about it, if each click is 1/4 inches you can adjust to within 1/8th inch of where you want to hit on the target. WIth a 1/2 inch click, you can get within 1/4 inches of where you need to be. Unless you and your gun is capable of 1/8th inch groups you don't need 1/4 inch/MOA clicks.

My favorite scope uses Leupold's M3 turrets. They have 1/2 inch clicks on the windage and 1 inch clicks on the elevation; perfect for a practical hunting scope in my opinion.
 
I've used a HS LR over the last year and I've been very happy with it, I have not found the 1/2 MOA to be an issue. I've shot out over a mile with it and been quite pleased, it's nice to hit 1100 yards in one turn!!!!
 
Here's the bottom line at 100 yards 1 moa is one inch at 400 yards 1 moa is 4 inches ect ect so at 800 yards 1 moa is 8 inches and on a 1/2 click moa 1 click would be 4 inches ... So unless ur shooting small targets, which I assume ur not with it being a 300 win mag sounds like an elk or big game gun 4 inches is nothing on a vital zone that big at 1000 yards 1/2 a click is 5 inches ur still good. Unless ur shooting target 1/2 moa will be quicker and easer to calculate take ur distance ect 900 yards = 9 moas half that is 4.5 so 1 click is 4.5 inches. Good luck!
 
I have used .5 MOA adjustments with good success on big game. In practice, the most you will ever be off your dope will be .25MOA, or under 3" at 1000 yards and this can be easily adjusted for if you wanted that level of precision. This amount is about the thickness of many crosshairs at that range. In recent years I have prefered finer adjustments largely because I have been able to achieve far greater accuracy with a couple of my rifles shooting .25 MOA or better. Whether or not it makes a practical difference in most my hunting, setting very precise zeros, and having bench rest level capabilities in my hunting rifle is not only a good confidence builder, but also more closely aligns the scope's capabilities with the capabilities of the rifle. In the end it contributes to my goal of continually tryng to increase my effective range. If .5 MOA concerns the OP I would suggest looking into another scope. There are too many good scopes out there to toil over the issue.
 
I agree confidence is everything and it probably would be just fine with .5 it all worked out though because the scope i really wanted is the vortex 6x24 LR with the XLR retical. I called vortex yesterday and asked if i could get it in. 25 and they said i can send it in and for $75 they will put the 1/4 turret on it. Thank you everyone for your info!
 
you could split the difference and get mil/mil scope with .1 mil clicks.

.1 mil = appx .36" at 100

:D
 
Of course we can always revert to the old method of hold off to compensate for a little courser adjustment. I have bean thinking of trying one myself and figure it would be fine 90% of the time and manageable the other 10%..........I have a ramanian IOR scope retrofit for Russian dials that equate to two moa and with a little help from the reticule I can score inside a 12" out to 1200 meters witch is the limit of the rifles accuracy anyway. I do not see the 1/2 moa adjustments as beneficial because I never had a problem turning the dial all the way around but it is not a big deal either once you get use to it. If I can get use to 2moa, I know 1/2 moa can't be that bad to adjust to.
 
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